Холли Вебб - A Kitten Called Tiger

“Mum!” Ava stared at her. “You can’t! You hate heights.” Dad was always teasing Mum about it. She didn’t even like the big slide at the funfair. “What about me?” Ava asked, swallowing her nerves. She really didn’t want to climb another ladder, not after she’d almost fallen off that ladder a few weeks before. But someone had to get Tiger down.

Mum shook her head. “I don’t want you going up that high! And how are you going to climb down again with a wriggly little kitten?”

“Tiger isn’t wriggly when Ava carries him,” Bel put in.

Ava nodded. “I’ve got a better idea, anyway. Why don’t we get the cat carrier? If I put that on the branch, with cat treats in it, he’d definitely climb in. Then I could shut the door and pass it down to Jess’s dad.”

“That’s actually a really good plan,” Dave agreed. “I could climb up behind Ava and help her. The ladder’s not strong enough for two adults on it at the same time but me and Ava should be fine.”

Mum nodded slowly. “All right, if you reckon that will work. I’ll run home and get the carrier and the cat treats.”

It seemed like the longest five minutes ever. Ava held Bel’s hand and they all took it in turns to call lovingly up to Tiger. But then, at last, Ava saw her mum come hurrying back.

“Right, Ava,” Dave said, as Mum opened the treats and placed them inside the carrier. “You start climbing up. Your mum and Jess’s mum are going to hold the ladder steady, and I’m going to climb up behind you with the carrier. I’ll pass it to you when you’re ready.”

Ava nodded, trying to wriggle her fingers. They felt so cold and she knew it was only because she was nervous… But what if she slipped while she was climbing the ladder? It was twice as high as the garden wall, at least.

She just couldn’t slip, that was all. She had to do it.

Slowly she put her foot on the first rung of the ladder and began to climb. She didn’t look down at the ground or even up at Tiger. She just looked at the rungs in front of her and kept going.

“I’m coming up behind you now, Ava. Hold on tight and don’t worry if you feel the ladder shaking!” Dave called.

“OK!” Ava called back, her voice odd and high. The ladder was shaking and it was making her feel a bit sick.

“Ava, you’re nearly there!” That was Bel’s voice, sounding a very long way below.

“A couple more rungs, Ava.” Mum called. “You’re doing so well.”

Ava lifted her face a little to look up at the branches and gasped as she saw Tiger for the first time since she’d started climbing. He was there, staring at her, and he looked so scared.

Suddenly Ava felt a tiny bit better. “Hey, Tiger,” she murmured. “We’re going to get you down.” Carefully she went up two more rungs, so that she was right next to Tiger’s branch. She definitely wouldn’t have been able to carry the kitten back down, she thought, shivering a little.

“Here’s the carrier,” Dave said quietly. “Can you grab it? You’ll have to let go with one hand. Take your time.”

Ava nodded, and forced herself to loosen her fingers and reach down. She grabbed the handle and shakily pushed the carrier up on to the branch. There was a forked bit of branch sticking out and she wedged the carrier in it. Now she didn’t have to hold on to it – otherwise she’d have to let go with both hands to open the door. The packet of cat treats was inside – Tiger’s favourite flavour, she noticed, the fishy ones. Ava reached in and shook the scrunchy foil bag.

“How are you doing?” Dave called up.

“He’s coming!” Ava cried.

Tiger had started edging back along the branch. It was going to work! His soft fur brushed against her arm as he climbed into the carrier, sniffing at the bag. Ava shut the door so quickly she almost caught his tail and then she turned the catch.

“He’s in!”

“Brilliant! Pass him down to me then. Take it slow, Ava. The carrier’s going to be heavy now.”

Ava nodded, lifting the carrier and reaching down to pass it to Dave. She heard a worried little mew as the carrier moved. “It’s OK, Tiger. We’re going home,” she whispered to him.

“Back down now, Ava. Nice and slow.”

Ava wasn’t sure how she ever got back down the ladder. She didn’t even remember doing it. She was just there at the bottom, with Mum hugging her and saying she’d been so scared and she should never have let Ava go up there, and Bel telling her she was the best big sister ever, and Lucy moaning because no one was listening and she’d dropped her toy cat.

Ava crouched down in front of the basket and peered in at the little stripey face looking out at her.

“Please don’t ever do that again,” she whispered to Tiger. “Thank you so much for rescuing him,” she told Jess’s dad.

He grinned at her. “I didn’t, Ava! It was all you! I think you’d better take him home and make a big fuss of him.”

Ava nodded, picking up the carrier – she didn’t even hold it by the handle, she wrapped her arms round it, like she never wanted to let Tiger go. She could feel the kitten padding about inside as she carried him down the path and round the corner to her house. She called goodbye to Jess – she couldn’t wave, she was holding on too tight to Tiger in his carrier.

Lucy and Bel followed Ava into the house and crouched down next to her as she put the carrier down on the hall floor. Tiger peered out at them all, his ears twitching.

“It’s all right,” Ava whispered. “You’re home now.”

Tiger stepped slowly out of the carrier and then scrambled up on to Ava’s knees, purring at last. She had come and rescued him. He’d known she would.

“You’re coming with me, Lily? Are you sure?” Dad grinned at her, widening his eyes and pretending to be shocked.

“I like the sound of a walk with you and Hugo in the woods. It’ll be nice and cool under the trees. Anyway –” Lily made a face back at him – “I’d come with you more often if you didn’t go so fast. You’ve both got really long legs and I haven’t.” Lily reached down to rub the dog’s soft creamy white ears. “Yes, you do, don’t you? Great big long legs.” She looked up at Dad. “You’re not planning on one of your five-mile hikes, are you?” she asked suspiciously.

Dad laughed. “No, not in this weather – it’s too hot for a long walk now. Anyway, I took Hugo out running with me early this morning.”

Lily nodded. Hugo needed loads of exercise. Dad took him for at least two long walks every day and he usually went for a quick walk in the park with Mum when she stopped working to take a lunch break. At weekends Dad often took Hugo in the car to the hills just outside town for a really good run. Lily’s big sister, Carly, loved to go with them but Lily wasn’t so keen. It always seemed to rain when she went on one of Dad’s big days out.

Hugo was mostly German Shepherd – nobody was quite sure what else. Carly had told her that German Shepherds were originally bred from dogs trained to guard flocks of sheep from wolves and bears. They were used to working hard. Dad had wanted a really energetic dog and he’d fallen in love with Hugo at the animal shelter. He was so unusual with his white coat. The shelter staff said that Hugo had got too big for his elderly owner to look after properly – and at the time he hadn’t even stopped growing.